"William W Johnstone - Ashes 16 - Vengance in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

"I spoke at length with a local name of Jim Peters. He told me that
probably the man who would be chosen to lead the thugs and crud would be
a man called Books. Last name of Houseman. Highly intelligent fellow. He
was an officer in the American service, a graduate of some military
academy; Jim didn't know which branch. Books was court-martialed after
he was caught selling secrets to some East European country. Before he
could be sentenced, the

21 world blew up. He surfaced over here about five years ago. He's
respected if not liked by the other gang leaders. I think that this
Books fellow has done something no other group we've ever faced had
managed to do." He smiled, noting the puzzled look on the sergeant's
face. "He's figured out the only way they might stand a chance of
beating us. Bet on it."

A group of Rebels had gathered around, listening.

"If I'm right," Ben said, "and I think I am, we're in for some
down-and-dirty guerrilla fighting. This campaign is going to be messy,
people. Corrie, bump all batt corams. I want a meeting five minutes
ago." He looked at the Rebels gathered around him. "Heads up, people.
We're about to engage in a lot of hit-and-run fighting."

"I think you're right, Ben," Georgi Striganov said. "This failure to
attack, now that they have hundreds of new troops on this island, is ...
baffling. Or was."
Ben looked at his son. The young man was so ruggedly handsome, half the
women in the Rebel army were in love with the muscular young man . .. or
thought they were. "I think the crud is breaking up into small teams,
son. Take your Rat teams and start head-hunting. Each team take a local
with them. Get moving."

His son tossed him a sloppy salute and left the CP, hollering for his team.

Ben looked at the map of the island. "I can't break up the battalions on
a hunch. But on the other hand, I can't wait for them to infiltrate us."

Ben turned to stare out the window. "I can't order attack helicopters in
to rocket and strafe suspected punk positions on the islands because of
the civilian population. I can't order the ships closer in to shell for
the same reason. We've got to take the chain island by island. But by
doing it that way, it gives the

22 enemy time to beef up and make plans and get set." He turned and
thumped the table a couple of good whacks with his fist. "All right,
folks. Each of you will pick one full company to be broken up into small
groups and start them head-hunting. We've got plenty of local volunteers
to act as guides. It's going to be slow and bloody, with the terrain as
it is. And if this island is going to be bad, the big island of Hawaii
is going to be a bloody son of a bitch!"